From Three to Five
by thisisfaycountri
Summary: Arthur comes home to find out how Molly's first day alone after the twins are born has gone.


QLFC submission

Season 6: Caerphilly Catapults

Round 13, Chaser 2: Pixie: Write about someone who attempts to multi-task (once or all the time) and the consequences.

Prompts:(emotion) anger, (word) morose,(action) getting down on one's knee/s.

Word Count: 1216

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Arthur flooed into chaos.

He'd been running late, having stayed at work a little longer than normal. It was his first day back since the twins had been all the paperwork and worrying about how Molly had been, he didn't get finished until an hour later then he was supposed to be. Usually, Molly timed dinner to start five minutes after he got home, so he was expecting her to be upset with him because he hadn't stopped to tell her he would be late.

So when he entered the kitchen to screaming, crying, smoke, and his wife's shrill, angry voice, he was immediately alarmed and more than a little worried.

"-William! Now take Charlie and go sit in the living room!" She finishes her rant even as the smoke was whisked out of the kitchen window that had flown open. Her face is red with rage, having obviously been at it for a while. He was used to his wife's anger. Usually, he was able to soothe it, but if he didn't know what had happened he couldn't help. She begins muttering again as pans floated to the sink and water started running. He watches his two eldest leave the kitchen, Bill leading Charlie by the hand,tugging his reluctant brother with him. The eldest, at 7, sees him and gives him a toothy grin and a quick wave, which eases a little of his worry. Bill was overprotective of all of his brothers and would have been more morose if his siblings or mother would have been terribly hurt.

"Now, Percy, come here." she picks up the toddler and sets him on the counter, hushing his screams so that he was just snuffling every once and awhile.

"I know you're startled love, but did you get burned? Does anything hurt?" she asks soothingly, in a much calmer tone then she had been talking to Bill with. Arthur takes in how frazzled she looks. Her hair was in a loose bun, frizzed out like she had run her hands over it several times. Her clothes were torn in a few places, a bit rumpled and looked singed at the hem of her sleeves. Her wand was tucked behind an ear precariously. Something he hadn't seen her do since they had graduated Hogwarts and the stress of NEWTS was over.

"Nuh uh." Percy eventually tells her, still wiping his nose. She takes her sleeve and mops up his face without thought, making Arthur smile. After Charlie had been born, things like snot didn't bother either of them as much anymore. Molly puts the toddler on the floor and ushers him to a corner. He realizes the twins were swaddled and fast asleep. The bassinets must still have a noise canceling charm around them to keep them in a little quiet bubble. Percy is soon in the bubble as well, content to play with the blocks that Bill had handed down to Charlie and then him. They turned different colors and turned warm when the child voiced the correct color.

"Arthur! You're home already? I'm sorry, Supper is…" she trails off, sniffing herself, and falling into a chair.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I was trying to make dinner, but then Charlie chased Percy in here. Bill was trying to do the studying you left him and yelled at them to be quiet. Then the twins both woke up wanting a bottle and wouldn't go back down. When I turned around Charlie was playing with the fire in the stove again and burnt supper and it exploded and startled Percy and-"

"Shhh Molly, breathe," he cuts off her rising voice quietly. He moves her chair to face him and kneels so he can see her face and her brown eyes which had started to run over with tears.

"Molly, it's okay. I'm nearly an hour late, I was expecting you to be angry with me. It seems like you had a rough day," he says, tone apologetic. Her head whips to the clock in surprise and her mouth forms a little 'o' as she reads it's nearly seven.

"Oh, the boys need to get to bed soon! Bill and Charlie still need a bath and I just know Percy is going to be fussy, he refused to take his second nap of the day. And the twins are going to wake up before I get supper going again and-"

Arthur was alarmed when her rant was cut off by tears this time, his wife sobbing into her hands as he tried to frantically soothe her.

"Molly, Love, it's okay! Everything's okay. Has it been this hectic all day? I'm so sorry Mollywobbles," he eventually gets her to calm down.

"Oh, Arthur, it's been awful! Everytime I try to clean or cook or do anything around the house, one of the boys starts crying or calling for me or something crashes or they start pointing fingers over something that the other did! What were we thinking? We could barely keep up with three kids and now we have five!" she exclaims, leaning into him as he wraps his arms around him.

"I'll talk to Mr. Drewberry about taking a few hours off early everyday and working a few Saturdays a month to make up for it. That way you don't have as long alone with all five boys and when the twins get older, and Bill is going to school, we can switch back," Arthur offers after a long silence.

"Oh, no, you don't have to! I'm just so tired. And trying to run the house and wrangle the kids and keep up with the twins- it's just, a lot right now," Molly murmurs into his hair. Arthur chuckles tiredly.

"I'm sorry Mollywobbles. But, look at them now," Arthur motions to the corner he had just spotted and Molly whirls around. Percy had turned a chair in the corner the twins and him were bubbled in and had climbed so that he was sat between his brothers. He had a very serious expression as he held a block near the bassinet that Fred was in. The babies were wide-eyed, but quiet, as their older brother wiggled the block. It turned a neon blue.

"Boo," Percy says proudly, and the block flashes to yellow, to the twins delight. All three were oblivious to the meltdown their mother and father were having thanks to the noise-canceling portion of the corner.

"Oh, look at him! Already trying to teach his brothers," Molly wails, tears already forgotten as she rushes over to hug her third youngest son. Arthur stands slowly and ruffles Percy's hair, getting a grin in return.

"How about you and I go get Bill and Charlie? It's bath time , and then I can read you whatever you want until it's time to eat. Deal?" he asks the toddler.

"Yeah!" he exclaims, throwing his arms out towards Arthur. He catches the redheaded boy and grins over the wild hair at his wife.

"Maybe we can convince mum to order from the Leaky Cauldron instead?" he whispers to the little boy, who looks at his mother with wide eyes as she narrows hers playfully.

"And miss out on MY cooking? Never! Go wash up now."


End file.
